Summer Clothing Dilemmas

As I mentioned, I've put on the weight I lost but it is distributed slightly differently. As a result, some clothes fit, some don't, and I can even get into a few items that were previously too tight. I'm on a vow of austerity anyway (too many other expenses, including lots of travel required for research and work) so I'm looking to see what works, what doesn't and what I should sell.

As I feared and predicted, the weather suddenly went from chilly to hot and humid. As this happened, I realized (as I do every summer) that a good deal of my pretty dresses simply don't work for NYC's climate--anything silk sticks to you as soon as the heat and humidity rise in tandem, anything with straps rather than covered shoulders causes my fair skin to burn, and realistically, the best dresses for this weather and my complexion have a slight sleeve. As a result, I've decided to sell a few of the sun dresses I haven't worn (or wore once) that don't do double duty as fall/spring items because they aren't warm enough for me. I'll be selling my madcap print Sylvestre reedition, much as it makes me sad, because I just don't wear it. It's a 6 and I'll post pictures soon. I'm also parting with the blue silk gingham Rachel Comey dress I bought last year because, again, it doesn't work for my body or this climate.

Despite my austerity pledge, I think I'm going to have to get those Madewell sandals I pictured a while back. My stalwart summer flats have been flipping back at the front, which I thought was a problem with cobblestoned streets, but it turns out I've worn through the soles so badly that I think they may be entirely beyond repair. For $50 two years ago (I got two pairs), they've done well---they were by Devotte and came from the now closed permanent sample sale store, Inventory.

But I am looking for a couple of cotton dresses--loose, drapey, with some coverage at the neck and shoulders. The best ones I've seen have been over $200 (the Ernie dresses that Cheryl blogged about are great) but I really don't want to spend that much, especially as I have so many clothes and am trying to be good and even downsize. It's not just the money, it's the principle of the matter--the need to discipline myself and live within the resources, including the space, that I have.

Every summer I wonder the same thing--why so few cotton and linen dresses given the reality of humidity for most of us in the Eastern half of the US? I know cotton prices have gone up but this isn't a new thing (the prices for Mayle's Elvira dress suggest I'm not alone in wanting a cotton dress for the heat and this dress sold out in the stores without going on sale). And also, why so few dresses that cover the chest--the shoulder strap thing asks for sunburn and when combined with cheap synthetics or even silk makes for a pretty sweaty and uncomfortable summer day. If we lived in 70-80 degree low humidity days, these would work, but that's not the climate for most of the US in June-August.

If anybody has any suggestions for reasonably priced cotton dresses, please let me know.

Summer Diet

I was recently on a course of medications whose side effects include possible weight gain. I've been exercising and eating sensibly but was horrified to find that some of the clothes that fit me just two weeks ago are now tight. I suspect this is a temporary thing, but it is pretty upsetting nonetheless. It will, however, mean that I can't buy clothing until my weight goes back down (it's always easier to pile it on than take it off) and it will also force me to be more imaginative in coping with the summer heat and humidity. Ironically I had just started to lose weight so this is doubly frustrating. Of course, I've packed it on where I am biggest--my back and thighs. At least I know the culprit but it still leaves me with more weight to lose and takes me back to where I started from.

Retro Guardian

I always like reading the Guardian (better in print than online but that isn't always possible). I also secretly enjoy reading old microfilm newspapers, even if it does take a long while to find anything you may need for research. So I was amused to find that the Guardian is celebrating its 190th anniversary with a version of to-day's paper, typeset as though it were 1821. It can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian-1821 with live links, updated in real time--and you can even "entweet" it.

Early Sound Film Thursday

As part of my easing back into work, I started watching some of the films I want to use for the next book. In the early evening, I headed over to Brooklyn to watch the Clara Bow early sound film, The Wild Party (1929) with Ashley, Brittan and Taso. It was really great (and fun to watch with other devotees) and will be at least a footnote to the female group film chapter. Watching it made me feel quite sad about the premature end of Bow's career--her voice was good as was her acting. While I know that most of the rumours about silent stars' voices not working for sound were just myths, designed to restock studio rosters with cheaper and less powerful newcomers in the midst of the Depression and the costs of converting production/exhibition, it is so sad to think that many charismatic performers suddenly were faced with the end of their careers while still in their 20s and 30s. Still, TWP was very much worth watching and, for me, was another useful piece of evidence of the importance of the female group trope in women's films, with its significance for the feminine, the relational and discourses on both youth and identification. It also had some great clothes.

Later that night, I watched another early sound film, Show Girl in Hollywood (1930). As a side note, these films always strike me as constituting a period of their own, one possibly owing more to silents than pre-Codes. Perhaps part of this is fashion--obviously sound films from 1928-30 look more like they belong with late silents, but there's more to it than that. Some of it, perhaps, is the occasional use of intertitles which in themselves remind you that sound is still new and in its transitional stages. But some of it the mores and cultural references of the time--even two or three years makes a huge difference in this period of film history and the issues, fashion, culture of 1932 seems quite distinct from that of 1930, and, of course, the sound technology is radically different. The films also seem very self-conscious of their position, aware of the question of history as what were just movies were in the process of being bracketed off into a silent past, their modernity suddenly questioned as their status suddenly transitions to that of relic.

Now an almost forgotten curio, Show Girl in Hollywood was evidently more of a significant release in its day--as evidenced by a final technicolor reel (now lost--the only prints are in black and white). Color was not infrequently paired with early sound--it's almost as if the studios figured they may as well flaunt all their new technologies, especially in the new musicals that took greatest advantage of sound. SGIH starred Alice White (pictured above)--often promoted as a blonde Clara Bow--another flapper star from the 1920s who did transition successfully to sound but then made some wrong decisions (temporarily leaving the screen for romantic reasons) only to mismanage her career after it was blighted by scandal.  Like Bow, she certainly had the tough wise-cracking qualities that would have made her very suited to the pre-Code era,  while also being a singer-dancer (with the kind of rough singing voice that clearly was popular at the time but doesn't really work today).

Ironically, SGIH deals with a young girl's rise to stardom in Hollywood, but in a less sentimental fashion that is the hallmark of so much late 1920s/early 30s cinema, contrasting again with the more Classical films that followed. Indeed, the film acknowledges the industrial and economic system that produces quick rises and falls, where all talent is replaceable, and where stars of 32 can find themselves washed up relics. Here the film is notable for a fascinating piece of casting--silent star Blanche Sweet plays the role of the slightly older actress who finds herself living in luxury off-screen in a retirement that is more involuntary than the public believes.

White's character, Dixie, brings her back into pictures, showing us that Sweet also has the voice, presence and skills to work very well in sound--almost as another Depression era sophisticate like Irene Dunne or Ruth Chatterton. Indeed, if she'd had Chatterton's stage pedigree rather than the baggage of being a Biograph star with Griffith, it's possible that her age--mid-30s--would not be a problem. But strange as it seems to me, the days of Biograph shorts were just 20 years before the early sound to pre-Code years--something that clearly seemed an eternity at the time. In many ways, this film documents how that history was experienced--the teen players of yore could only be seen as historical relics even as they were still relatively young women. It was not an issue of technology, how the camera registered their looks, or voice, but rather the need for novelty and cinema's own assertion of itself as always new that ruined these careers. The memory of this past was always attached to these pioneer actresses and not so easily resolved as in SGIH.

Exercise

One of the big things I intend to do this summer is to maximize my unlimited yoga/pilates/zumba/dance membership. I have put on weight but because it was somewhat proportional, I didn't notice. I have to admit that I fell somewhat off the ladder when it comes to limiting sugars and bad foods, and all the good work I did seems to have slid away--or slid back. I'm currently wearing a Jeffrey Monteiro dress that was baggy in the top last summer and now feels a little tight. I think I've lost some of the weight (at least, that's what my fellow pilates/yoga/zumba classmates tell me) but I am pretty disgusted with myself.

I just got back from one of my bootcamp classes. I think my stamina is greater than it was, but I still need to lose the weight. As I was in agony while jumping and squatting, I kept thinking that the four squares of chocolate I had earlier really weren't worth this pain. Funnily enough, when I exercise, I actually want less food in the evenings--and I know I eat less in the spring/summer (this long cold spring-less spring hasn't helped me weight-wise in that respect). With my metabolism raised, hopefully I can burn off the fat that hides my muscles. I have, however, learned one thing--that pilates and yoga may make me strong but they don't cause me to lose the fat. I can't look toned with inches of flab covering me and even though I am good at disguising my weight, I really am not in the kind of shape I want. Part of me still thinks of myself as that size 2-4 skinny girl with long, thin limbs and a tiny waist who can eat anything but my body (and my reflection at the gym) shows me that that girl is only a memory.

Even though I can't necessarily get back into my early 20-something shape, I can improve my body. Ideally I'd love to have narrow thighs and hips again so I can wear skinny pants and flaunt my waist in narrow tops. Earlier this month, I saw a girl in the department wearing a loose draped grey t-shirt tucked into high waisted, very skinny dark grey pants, high heels and her hair in a ponytail. It was that simple and it looked that good. I wanted that outfit but then quickly realized that on my body, it would be worse than a joke--I'd look fat, lumpen, middle-aged and out of shape. Maybe my body will never look that way but it is a goal to have in sight--and one that makes me realize that I could also cut my clothing budget very easily if I could look that good in pants and a t-shirt.

Settling into Summer

I'm currently adjusting to not teaching--although that doesn't mean no work. Indeed, the beginning of the summer still feels a little like the semester as I have a couple of defenses scheduled for the next week or two and a few incompletes to still grade. I also have to get to work on my conference paper soon so the library is likely to become a regular fixture in a day or so.

I'm also making an effort not to spend. I know the best way to do this is to avoid all temptation--no shopping blogs, no window shopping, no magazines. But that would be no fun. So I've put a few things into shopping carts, left them there while I've gone off to do other things (like read Photoplay) and then realized I don't want them anyway. The lure of big reductions has to stop. I've fallen victim to that temptation too many times in the guise of saving and then received packages that may have ultimately been less than inspiring. I'm aware that some of these can be the best purchases in the long run as they fit in with your needs and become really great basics--a brown cashmere cardigan I got from J. Crew in their big winter sale this January initially seemed more like shopping cart filler but turned out to be one of my favorite and most useful items. But too often that hasn't been the case.

I do need sandals and shoes, and I should get some more yoga/pilates/zumba pieces (which doesn't really count). If it gets really hot, more cotton or linen dresses will perhaps be needed. But in the meantime, I'm making the most of some overlooked items I already own and enjoying them afresh. One particularly great rediscovery is a black silk just above the knee a-line skirt from Lyell's only holiday collection (I think it was 2008). I bought it because it went so well with the top below, but it has also proven itself to be a versatile skirt for this crazy humid weather, pairing well with plaid shirts, striped tops and other basics, as well as working with or without sandals.

I've also worn my new Madewell blouse several times and love it. With all the rain we've been having, I've had to put my Coco clogs away for a few days but hopefully they will come out to play again soon. While today has been mercifully sunny (with overcast spells that threaten rain), we have barely had any decent spring weather and I keep coming back to my coats and sweaters even though June is on the horizon. How could this year have passed so fast?

Geek-ish Pleasures

It is officially summer (as in, classes are done and grades are in) so that means I'm sticking my toes back into research. The top priority really has to be the conference paper (which will also be part of the new book's conclusion) and as I have nothing written, I started looking for research materials yesterday. Initially, I was searching for articles to order on interlibrary loan, but then I discovered the marvels of google books. They have an inconsistent run of Photoplay, Moving Picture World, Motion Picture Classic and other periodicals from the 1910s--which made me super-excited. I also found some reform and social science serials and small books/pamphlets from the same period (many of them works I had out of the library for most of my dissertation writing years), which will be handy for book revisions--especially as I forgot them entirely in the subsequent years and could use them for small tweaks to various chapters.

By the end of the day, I was squealing with joy as I added these (free) titles to my google library. I never thought I'd own whole volumes of Moving Picture World from 1916 or Photoplay from 1915. I was planning to get an iPad 2 anyway for work (easier to carry to conferences and school for Powerpoint presentations), and now I can read these books on it, it will be even more useful. Sometimes I forget how much the 1910s thrill me, but just looking at these covers, their distinctive and dated use of English (replete with excessive use of hypenation and terms like motography, photoplay--or photo-play, kinematography) makes me very happy--in a very geek-like way.